Home nation hopefuls

With shooting kicking off at Barry Buddon tomorrow, Clay Shooting highlights those representing the home nations.Though the Commonwealth Games is not a world event, competitors travel the globe to take part in their respective fields of athletic prowess. Among those will be 35 clay shooters from the around the Isles. We will have a full report of their endeavours in the September issue, but until then, we wish them all the best of luck.

Wales

As one of the few, or only, teams that will be fielding not one, but two married couples, this might be one of Wales’ greatest Commonwealth clay target teams ever assembled. Elena Allen and Sarah Wixey have won bronze and silver medals at World Cups and World Championships over the last 12 months, and their respective husbands, Malcolm and Mike, have put pressure on the world’s best in recent months. The few new faces in the mix, like Katie Cowell and Rhys Price, will gain good experience for their potential medal-winning future even if a podium position isn’t quite in reach this year.

Elena Allen – Olympic Skeet

Katie Cowell – Olympic Trap

Sarah Wixey – Olympic Trap

Malcolm Allen – Olympic Skeet

Jonathan Davies – Olympic Trap

Rhys Price – Olympic Skeet

Mike Wixey – Olympic Trap

England

The support structure that manager John Robinson has put in place for the 11 athletes in the build up to the Games has given them the best medal prospects. Recent European champion Steve Scott was named team captain, but the team also boasts names like 2013 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Amber Hill, world cup gold medalist Aaron Heading, world cup final winning, and former Double Trap Commonwealth gold medalist, Charlotte Kerwood and a host of other top talent. You won’t have to look much further than the podium to see a number of these shooters at Barry Buddon.

Rory Warlow – Olympic Skeet

Mikey Gilligan – Olympic Skeet

Aaron Heading – Olympic Trap

Dave Sipling – Olympic Trap

Steve Scott – Double Trap

Matt French – Double Trap

Amber Hill – Olympic Skeet

Sarah Gray – Olympic Skeet

Caroline Povey – Olympic Trap

Charlotte Kerwood – Olympic Trap, Double Trap

Rachel Parish – Double Trap

Northern Ireland

Two of the top hopefuls for Northern Ireland this time around are Trap shooters David Henning and Kirsty Barr. Both rank in Britain’s top 10 and Kirsty recently shot alongside Charlotte Kerwood and Abbey Burton and won a bronze medal in the European Championships in Hungary. David Beattie might be one of the older members of the team, but he will offer experience and advice to a burgeoning star in Kirsty, which goes a long way at major events like this.

Clement Buchanan – Olympic Skeet

David Henning – Olympic Trap

David Beattie MBE – Olympic Trap

David Christie – Olympic Skeet

Kirsty Barr – Olympic Trap

Scotland

A greater emphasis on airguns for Scotland’s shooting team doesn’t mean it lacks talent in the shotgun department. Leading the pack is Drew Christie, who has topped his fellow home-nation Olympic Skeet shots at different events this year. Sian Bruce is another name that often appears alongside the likes of Amber Hill and Elena Allen at international competitions. In the Trap arena, Shona Marshall might not have the same spark of previous years, but her recent British experience and the home advantage in Scotland could see her get close to the podium.

Drew Christie – Olympic Skeet

John McDonald – Olympic Trap

Jonathan Reid – Olympic Trap

Sian Bruce – Olympic Skeet

Shona Marshall – Olympic Trap

Isle of Man

One of the smaller British Isles teams sending a clay target contingent this year, the Isle of Man has made up for the low numbers from places like Jersey and Guernsey who have taken part in past Commonwealth Games. One of the stars is Tim Kneale, who equalled the world record when he represented Britain at the Munich World Cup last month. Jake Keeling recently secured a spot on the British Double Trap squad, and will use the Commonwealth Games to gain some valuable international experience.